When we read a tarot card to gain insights on our situation, we are drawing on the ’occult' (hidden) forces around us - forces described as 'hidden' because we can not see them working, but we still feel their effect. At their simplest, these forces are the four elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth). In ancient philosophy, everything in the universe has been made from different combinations of these elements (including the planets, astological phases, 'us' as people, and tarot cards) - these four elements exist at the core of everything, so must hold hidden wisdom. However, beacuse they don't inherently have the power of speech, humans have devised a way to communicate with them through symbols.
Reading the symbols: An ancient example of this secret wisdom lies in ‘the Moon’, which, as it waxes and wanes, flexes the tides of the oceans on Earth. By association (without the modern knowledge of gravity) it was reasoned that the Moons invisible rays must permeate down, attracted to the fluid qualities of water because ‘like naturally attracts like’. By further association, these nurturing lunar rays could be absorbed by all ‘matter’ on earth (rocks, plants, animals) that share the moons adaptive qualities - such as the ‘Crayfish’ which sheds and grows a new skin to adapt to it surroundings (it builds up resilience like the moon).
So when we receive the symbol of an Owl (wise), a Wolf (wild), or a Fish (receptive) in a tarot card, we know it is relating to this particular aspect (characteristic) of the Moon.
If we apply this ‘corresponding principle’ (that like attracts like) across all 7 classical planets, Mercury, The Moon, Venus, The Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (all represented within the tarot deck), then we have lots of insightful tarot symbols that reveal different types of wisdom.
For example:
In the tarot card 19: ‘The Sun’, the ‘sunflowers’ symbolise a natural instinct to turn towards the Sun to absorb its warmth and energy (they focus). When we receive this card in our tarot readings, we associate the ‘Suns light’ with feeling emotionally and mentally ‘strong’ - we focus on the good we have within, so we can energetically embrace the future 🌻🌞 #tomar #occult #explored #thesun #tarot #themoon
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